


A Stopped Clock

by LyzabethSay



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-20 14:29:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 17,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6011215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyzabethSay/pseuds/LyzabethSay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time works differently between realms - between Storybrooke, the Enchanted Forest, even Wonderland. </p><p>For the past seven years, March has traveled to every corner of the Land Without Magic in search of a way back home. But when she receives a mysterious post card from Storybooke, she decided to go on a little adventure. Once she arrives however, she is not as unfamiliar as she expects. </p><p>As time begins to shift, new faces emerge. A new evil awakens and suddenly, Storybrooke isn't just dealing with magic anymore but the power of gods.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

They were a strange couple - so full of life and love. Their imagination stretched beyond what anyone else in the world could comprehend. They had seen places, worlds that no one else had. They had adventures people only dreamed of. But the best part was – they had each other. Someone to share their adventures with – for this would be a lonely life to lead without one another. What would happen if they weren’t together? They completed each other. She was crazy, ecstatic and energetic. He was calm, collected, the one stable thing in her constantly shifting world. He held her down when she needed grounding, and she helped to expand his mind, helped to make him believe in everything he saw and the beauty that lay within it. She was like the autumn breeze that scattered the leaves in a whirl wind of colour and light, that created the shiver that ran down your spine when you least expect it, and he was the steady downpour of fresh snow that settled and molded into its surrounding to create an ethereal pale heaven on earth. They were travelers, adventurers, jumping from one crazy world to another. 

They were the March Hare and the Mad Hatter - such an odd couple but so perfect together.


	2. One

_ I need you to collect something for me.  _ The offer was so small, something that seemed so innocent.  _ It’s not from this world. I know you are a thief but I also know you can travel across realms. Get this for me and I will shower you with all the gold you can imagine.  _

That was his offer. Something so simple, and he would be rewarded handsomely for it. It was the perfect opportunity. 

He, alone, had stepped into many lands, separated by unseen boundaries that stretch for miles and miles. Lands lying next to each other, touching and overlaying but never crossing. Except for him, able to touch the gap between them – no man’s land. All with the aid of a simple top hat. 

But this land was new, something he never anticipated. It wasn’t the Enchanted Forest, it wasn’t the Queen’s castle and it definitely wasn’t Neverland. No – this was different. This was a little strange and a little curious. Everything seemed slightly out of focus, a little blurred as if the lines of reality and imagination crossed and made you question what you could see and what you couldn’t. Everything seemed brighter, almost fake – as if an artist had come along with a massive paint brush and used only the purest of colours. Nothing mixed, nothing added - just the greenest of greens and the bluest of blues. Everything made to look… fake. 

The world wasn’t what interested him however; it was what he could find here. A scavenger he was before – he was bitter by his poverty. But it came in use at its time. It meant he knew how to survive on his feet, he knew what to look for to keep alive; he knew how to stay hidden. It helped when he needed to stay in the shadows. And that was what he used him for. The almighty, the Dark One, summoning him at his will to do the bidding he could not. Occasionally, it was find someone. Occasionally, it was bringing something to him. Occasionally, it was travel to a land that he could not, to do something he could not complete. He never asked questions and only followed orders. And when the task was complete he would collect his dues and come home. 

And now, rich enough to retire he had a taste for it all. The traveling, the being free. Slowly and slowly it was driving him towards insanity. Not the traveling but the traveling alone. Too long he had been alone without any company. Company could be bought but company would not believe his tales of travel and excitement – not truly at least. They occasionally nodded and smiled to make it seem like they were interested but they never truly believed. All this being alone was turning him slowly… mad. 

But he set that all aside, as he traveled down the well-worn path of this new and mysterious land, he glanced around himself taking in his surroundings. The blades of grass grew up to twice his height and the mushroom, which would normally be only an inch of the ground, grew into the size of buildings. Plants with faces blew in the wind, birds sang songs he was sure he knew, and the rivers and streams gargled in a way he was sure he could understand them.  

As the wind blew, caressing him softly, swaying the trees against the pale blue sky of day, a small little pale pink butterfly flew by him. It seemed to linger in the air in front of him for a moment, as if studying him, judging him. Reaching out, he carefully wrapped his fingers around the small insect careful not to squash it, feeling it flutter lightly against his skin, but the moment he brought his hand back and opened his palm – there was nothing there. No trace anywhere… it was simply gone. 

‘What is this place really?’ he asked himself. 

As he came up the road, he spotted something in front of him – something off and definitely out of place. A small wooden side table casually perched at the edge of the road. On its circular surface lay a square doily hanging off its sides, and on top of that a plate full of cakes and desserts. A pitcher beside it held a mysterious clear blue liquid. But the strangest thing of all – there was a note. One lying neatly next to the plate that read, in clear yet quaint curly writing - EAT ME. And similarly, a label on the glass pitcher – DRINK ME. 

An invitation, he was only certain to oblige. 

As he reached out a hand, he picked up a small fairy cake with white icing curling above it. It was small and fitted neatly into the palm of his hand. It was tempting, a soft sponge that would surely melt in his mouth. But before he had the chance, a hand came out of nowhere, and slapped the cake to the ground. 

‘Don’t you know to never eat anything you find in Wonderland?’

He turned; facing him was a young girl no more than 14, in a midnight blue dress and a long brown overcoat, her blonde hair was pushed across one shoulder and tied with a ribbon to keep it in place. She looked curious, well groomed, and too well-mannered to be in a place so bizarre and strange. But then again, this was Wonderland – she could be a figment of his imagination, a mirage or even a small glimmer of something real that probably wasn’t. ‘What was that for?’

She turned to the table with the treats and tea cakes and in one swift movement, pushed the whole thing over. In an instant, the moment it began to fall to the ground, the table and all its delightful delicacies vanished into thin air in a cloud of purple smoke. 

‘It’s a lure - by the queen,’ she looked back at him taking him in – his velvet coat with its high collar, silk cravat pushed up to his chin, dark hair slicked back in place. ‘Be glad I just saved your life.’

‘Maybe I didn’t need saving.’ He stormed passed her, brushing her shoulder as he went. 

‘Hey!’ she called back at him as he walked away watching as his coat trailed behind him. ‘I just saved your life,’ she repeated – her voice stern and harsh, ‘have a little courtesy.’


	3. Two

She waved at the red pick up as it drove away from her, pulling up puffs of dust as it carried on down the empty highway. She stood by the side of road that lead through the centre of the New England forest, surrounded on either side by the silent trees towering over her. It was as if she was walking through the centre of New York but all the buildings and structures and monuments were made from wood and leaves, and everything smelt of fresh rain and pine. It was past the end of summer and the dry heat had turned to rain that hung in the dense air. 

She pulled up the hood of her brown coat to stop the rain from clinging to her blonde hair. Below her, she could feel her boots seeping into the muddy ground as she walked along the side of road. A cold breeze hung in the air as she reached into her bag and pulled open a map. The area was covered in a fairly dense forest except for the highway passing through the middle like a thick pencil line drawn straight through the centre of the page separating the two halves so they could never meet. 

The directions on the back of the postcard she clipped to the corner held vague instructions to her destination - the second turning to the right then straight on until you reach the town. As she stood at the top of the second turning along the empty 10 mile highway, she stared down the empty road. There was no sign, no marking, no indication that there was anything waiting beyond the stretch of trees. 

Packing away the map, she decided to risk it. She was on an adventure with nothing to lose. Hoisting up her backpack, she took the first step down the turning. Like the rest of the highway it was empty, a paved road that saw no traffic. She wondered how the lonely road felt when no one drove through it – did it feel loved, did it wait for that moment when someone like her stumbled across it and travelled down it, did it realise its potential for the excitement it held at the end?

After half a mile, through the trees she finally saw the first sign of life. A green sign with the words printed neatly in white –  _ Entering Storybrooke _ , and beyond that a red line spray painted from either end of the road. 

Taking out the postcard, she held it up comparing it to the sign in front of her. On the postcard was a picture of a clock tower the hands perpetually striking 8.15 and the words ‘Greetings from Storybrooke, Maine’ curved to one side. 

_ This must be the place _ , she thought to herself tucking the postcard back into her pocket. She walked up to the red line and aligned the tips of her boots to paint.  _ Why was she even here? Why would she come to a place she had never even heard of just because of a post card? What could be waiting for her beyond this line?  _ She spent her whole life traveling and venturing into new, unknown worlds but this felt different. From the moment she picked up the postcard, she suddenly felt like she needed to be somewhere. As if this little town in the middle of nowhere was calling for her. She knew she loved adventure and traveling; her whole life had been one long adventure. From the first time she sneaked out of her parents’ house and began travelling, she knew she would never be able to go home again. Never be able to stay in one place long enough. All she wanted to do was find somewhere new and explore all its possibilities. 

But now she was here, her toes pressed up against somewhere she had never been, somewhere new and exciting, and she was afraid. It was a new sensation she could feel tingling through her. It grew in the pit of her stomach and spread to her fingertips. After a whole life made up of risks, she took in a deep breath, feeling the clear, clean air course through her, lifted one foot and placed it on the other side of the line.

 


	4. Three

As he began walking deeper and deeper into the woods of Wonderland the sky began to grow exceedingly dark. He wasn’t sure if it was because night was approaching or because the trees around him seemed to grow thicker, the leaves blocking out the sun that shone above it. But he carried on anyway, determined to find what he needed and get back to his land to collect his dues. 

While the sky around him grew darker, it felt like the woods did too. Not by the amount of light that was suddenly diminishing greatly but the once brightly coloured flowers that littered the pathway were becoming fewer and fewer, making it seem like all the colours within Wonderland were fading away. Even the 10 feet tall mushrooms were too slowly shrinking to become normal sized mushrooms. The path seemed to grow narrower and narrower, the trees coming in closer and closer, becoming denser, making it harder to breathe, to see where he was going. 

‘You don’t want to go that way,’ a voice echoed around him. It was sly and cheeky, playful almost. Like it was teasing him, asking him to change directions onto a path that was more menacing. 

‘Who are you?’ he called out at the disembodied voice. 

‘Over here,’ it said and he spun around but there was nothing. 

‘No, over here,’ it said again and he turned back. Still nothing. 

‘Whatever you are I am in no mood for tricks.’ He spun around one more time and on a low hanging branch that mysteriously, suddenly appeared before him was a cat. Its fur was a scraggly, matted, faded purple in the darkness of the light. Its large, glowing yellow eyes dominated its round face.

‘Oh I am not playing tricks,’ it suddenly said bearing a grin full of pointy, pearly white teeth. ‘You just weren’t looking hard enough.’

‘What are you?’ he said taking a step towards it reaching out a hand gingerly. 

‘A cat,’ it said standing up, slowly slinking its way across the branch, its back arched high and its tail pointed vertically. ‘A Cheshire Cat.’

He began to back away now realising the implications of a talking cat. What would people think if he told them he had met a talking cat? They would think him mad. 

He turned around to carry on walking and even though it had only been a second the moment he turned away the cat appeared before him once again. 

‘I wouldn’t go that way’ it said – its tail pointing in the direction of he was heading. 

‘And why not?’ he asked impatient in the cat’s distraction. 

‘Oh because,’ it said beginning to walk off in the direction he just came. He was sure he was going mad from having been in Wonderland too long as he could swear that as the cat walked away, it began to slowly fade, as if it were blending into the distance. ‘Things get a little crazy down there,’ it said as the last of it disappeared into thin air. 

He shook his head, definitely believing that he was going mad, and not heeding the cat’s warning he carried on anyway. 

As he began to walk further down the path, he was sure that it was suddenly becoming colder, the air around him turning chilly making his breath cloud up in front of him. The darkness seemed to hide any source of warmth around and he was now beginning to wonder if maybe he did go the wrong way. But he persisted anyway, sure that once you entered a forest there must be a way out, another side. But for how long – he did not know. 

Around him he could suddenly feel a deep groaning in the air. Like a tree falling slowly to the ground. It rumbled around him making the leaves of the tree and the stones on the ground vibrate. The noise continued, in rapid beats and he suddenly realised… it resembled snoring. As if the whole forest around him was a sleep and the rise and fall of its breath created a groaning sound like snoring. 

Fascinated by this concept he looked up, watching as the leaves and trees began to sway slowly like a midnight breeze was passing through them. And without noticing, he lost his footing. The toe of his boot hitting against something solid, like a fallen tree trunk making him trip. He looked back but there was no trunk. Instead, the groaning noise became louder and less rhythmic. The trees began to rustle violently around him.

Then suddenly there was a loud sound like a shriek that echoed throughout the forest. And this time, he was sure it wasn’t the snoring of sleeping trees. 

As the trees continued to rustle and shake, he suddenly saw it. Its scaly green skin shimmering in the darkness. It was long, with a tail and short legs but long arms. It had small wings on its back and horns on the top of its head. It looked like a dragon but he was almost sure that they did not exist. But then he reminded himself, Wonderland was not the real world. 

This however, whatever it was, was very real and it had spotted him.

It let out another shrieking yell and began to turn, its tail whipping back and forth behind it. Its beady little eyes were fixed on him as he began to dash away, pushing trees and branches and leaves out of his face as he began to run. 

It chased after him but, as he glanced over his shoulder to see how far behind it was, he realised it looked dazed and confused. Determined to rip him to shreds if it caught him but at the same time, he seemed disorientated, in the same way anyone would feel disorientated after being awoken suddenly from a nice long slumber. 

As he carried on running, hoping soon to either reach light or a way out of this horrible forest, he saw something glimmer in the distance.  _ A gap in this curtain of darkness _ , he wondered. As he drew closer he realised the light was coming towards him. But it wasn’t an opening at all, it was a torch. A fire lit torch being held by a very thin arm. That arm, was connected to the mysterious blonde girl. 

‘Hey,’ she shouted waving the torch above her head. ‘Over here.’ 

Daring to turn behind him, he noticed the dragon stopping, its eyes almost wide with fear. Running directly towards it, she continued waving the torch but the dragon began to turn away. Its shrill shrieking changed from menacing and threatening to genuinely scared as if the fire, or the girl, frightening it dearly. 

‘What did you just do?’ he asked panting, trying to catch his breath when the girl returned after the dragon had disappeared off back into the deep, dark recesses of the forest. 

‘Saved your life,’ she said with a smile dropping the torch to the ground where it extinguished itself. 

‘Why? I had it under control,’ he asked. 

‘Listen, every once in awhile everyone needs saving.’


	5. Four

As she followed the winding road through the forest, the trees began to disperse, thinning out until they almost disappeared to make room for the growing houses and storefronts that traversed Main Street. As if she had stepped into a whole new world, she could finally see the town in the distance. Red roofs dotted the landscape, a clock tower loomed omnisciently from above watching the townsfolk as they went about their day, and a vast open bay caressing the far end of the pier. The sun was setting just over the west horizon dipping the town in an orange glow. It wasn’t late yet but she felt a strange sensation at how empty the town seemed to be. The stores were closed, the streets bare of pedestrians, the cars parked neatly along the edges.

Suddenly, a cool breeze rustled trees and an eerie silence lingered in the aftermath.

As the sun set in the background, streetlights came on to illuminate the shadowed road. The spotlights shone down creating isolated circles of light that dotted along the road. The closed storefronts gave the illusion of life as the mannequins stood motionless in the dark like still images of life captured and preserved.

Further down the road pass the hat shop and ice cream parlour and florist, the sound of laughter and music came flooding towards her. She followed the sound to see a small building tucked away - past the ivy and vine covered garden tables and rose bushes lining the neat white picket fence, illumined by a sign above it in neon green and red lettering - _Granny’s Diner_. A wooden archway covered in twinkling fairy lights framed the small path that led up to the doors. Through the window, warm amber light bathed the patrons in a glow that emanated the feeling joy and happiness. Even standing by the closed doors, she could feel their love, a strong bond that connected everyone inside; it felt stronger the longer she stood there. It was as if nothing could stop them. Not a foolish little argument over whether they enjoyed sugar in their coffee, or the turmoil of true love and loss, or being separated miles and miles apart trapped in parallel worlds.

As her hand hovered over the handle, questioning whether she should interrupt this joyfulness, the door flung open on its own accord. Or so she through. Instead, stood in front of her was a boy with messy brown hair and a red and blue scarf. He had large brown, curious eyes, filled with years of wisdom that surpassed his age.

‘Hello,’ he said seemingly unafraid of the stranger standing in front of him. He tilted his head to one side as if studying her curiously.

‘Hi,’ she replied, curious about the little boy’s curiousness.

‘You’re new.’

She smiled at him, about to respond when from the inside the diner a voice called out, ‘Henry?’

Beside him appeared a lady in a smart black dress, her hair just as dark cropped neatly at her shoulders. She could almost be certain that she had met her before. It felt like years, a lifetime ago, in another world in another land, she knew she had seen this lady before and deep down, inside of her she could feel the bile of dread rising up. As if instincts were taking over she knew she needed to be afraid of her – she knew she needed to leave now.

‘Hello,’ she sounded nicer than she looked. She wore dark red lipstick that curled up into a smile. ‘We don’t get many visitors. I’m Regina Mills, Mayor of Storybrooke.’

 _Regina_. The name strengthened the fear that ran through her. Something was not right and she could feel it in her bones. For the first time, since she began her trip she wanted to return home. For the first time ever, she regretted her little adventure. There was something strange going on in this town that she did not understand and it made her feel uneasy inside.

‘I should actually be going,’ she began to back away leaving the two standing in the doorway. ‘I’m sorry this was a mistake.’

She turned to make her escape and felt herself crashed into another person. She had wavy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, and under her red jacket shone a shiny gold sheriff’s badge. ‘Hey. Watch out there,’ she said keeping her steady, holding her arms for support.

As she stood there thoughts ran rampant in her mind. Everything she was seeing must be a trick. Suddenly nothing felt real, nothing felt right. Beside the woman stood a man with what she was sure was a silver hook for a hand.

‘What is this place?’ she asked pushing herself away from them. ‘What is going on here?’

As her confusion grew, she could see people gathering, exiting the diner with the curiosity of what was going on. Every time she looked around there were faces she was sure she had seen before. People she thought she knew but had not seen for a long time and definitely not in this land. Everything suddenly reeked of a familiarity of a past life, in a world where magic was real.

‘Calm down,’ the lady in the red jacket held out her hands. ‘It’s fine. We’re not going to hurt you.’

She was dazed and confused and all of a sudden terribly afraid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not terribly happy with this chapter so I hope to edit it soon


	6. Five

‘Look – I don’t know who you are or what you want but I don’t need your help.’ He turned away walking off, pulling up dust as he went. The girl, the mysterious girl, who wouldn’t leave him alone, followed. Persistent was an understatement as she trailed behind him through the trees. 

‘Well, apparently you do because it’s obvious you know nothing about Wonderland or where you are going. I mean, didn’t your mother ever teach you to not eat or drink strange things? To never touch the gingerbread house where the witch lives or take apples from unsuspecting grannies. Or trip over Jabberwocky tails. Wonderland is a dangerous place – it’s deceiving and will trick you and suck you into its fantasy.’

He couldn’t take it any longer, incessant pestering and talking, chatting – he had spent too much time alone in his years of travel that the nagging voice of a female companion grew on his nerves. He could well see how dangerous this place was and for once wanted to leave as fast as he came. Stopping, he turned to her, she was only steps behind him and jolted to a halt to stop herself from crashing into him. Staring threateningly at her he said, ‘What do you want with me? Why were you following me?’

She stopped, her gaze softening, her posture relaxing – there was obviously something she did want, something she thought he might have the answer to. ‘How did you get here?’

Confused – he didn’t see how it mattered, ‘Through the Looking Glass.’

‘The what?’ Her expression changed – not something he expected in all honestly. 

‘The mirror that lets you travel from one place to another,’ he said matter of factly, as if this information was nothing new. Normally, he travelled between words through his hat – a portal, a gateway from one world to another. But this time it was different. Wonderland was different. He was directed to a mirror made of silvery liquid that shined and shimmer and looked so appealing you couldn’t help but want to reach out and touch it. He’d never heard of it before, never seen anything like it until the Dark One showed it to him. 

‘Why did you travel here of all places?’

‘Because I need to find someone.’

‘Who? I have spent enough time here - I can always take you to whom you seek.’ A bargain, a deal – there had to be something in it for her, he thought. She might know Wonderland like the back of her hand but there was obviously something she wanted that she couldn’t get. 

‘Really?’

‘Well, it does depend who you are looking for however.’

He pondered on this for a moment. He wasn’t used to asking for help – but then again he didn’t ask… she offered. This world already seemed to be stranger than he’d like and maybe it wasn’t too rude to ask for some help. ‘He’s call the Caterpillar. That is all I know.’

She blinked back at him, an eyebrow arched in confusion, ‘What on earth do you want with him?’

‘He has some information I need.’

He watched her as she took a moment and realised he knew nothing of whom he searched. All he was told was – he would know him when he saw him. Vague but a challenge he relished none the less. A little adventure kept him on his feet – and also, where was the fun in being told everything. Finally, she raised her head. A gleam in her eye and a smile creeping across her face, ‘Very well. I’ll take you to the Caterpillar, if you promise to take me home with you through the Looking Glass.’

He smiled back at her, ‘Deal.’ Except there was something she didn’t know, something that would change the whole arrangement if she knew. But he wouldn’t tell her. Not if he wanted to get what he needed and leave this strange and curious pace as soon as possible. But what she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her… or could it. 


	7. Six

It had started as a quiet evening. It was somewhat of a tradition that Granny held a night for everyone to gather together to drink and feast and be happy and jovial in each other’s company. For once Storybrooke was quite, it was an achievement for the town when they managed to go a week without a new incident where they needed saving or were being terrorized by a giant or a dragon or an evil Snow Queen, and it was those moments that everyone in Storybrooke cherished. There were freshly baked pies that warmed the diner with its sickly sweet smell. The golden brown crusts covering the delightfully warm blueberry centre. The jukebox in the back was playing a swinging tune, the dwarves challenged each other to a deadly game of darts particularly when Sleepy began to throw, there were steaming cups to hot chocolate tipped with cinnamon across the counter, and despite the energy and sound, baby Neal still slept soundlessly in the corner while Belle filled his dreams with stories and fairy tales filled with magic and wonders.

But through all this there was a commotion growing outside of Granny’s. Everyone was slowly gathering around the door, abandoning their drinks and conversation, letting curiosity get the better of them. Henry stood at the door with Regina behind him, where they watched as Emma stood outside trying to calm someone down.

'Papa,’ she asked looking up at him next to her in one of the back booths of the diner, ‘what’s going on?’

'I don’t know, darling,’ he said as the dwarves passed him, leaving their game to see what was happening. ‘It’s probably nothing.’

He reassuringly stroked her soft blonde hair, while still watching the crowd. Granny stood behind the counter complaining at the commotion, Mary Margret was hushing Neal while David pushed through the crowd to help Emma.

Through the open diner door, he could hear what was happening. The sound of Emma and David handling the situation, along with an unfamiliar voice, drifted in with the cool evening breeze. But for some reason the voice didn’t sound as unfamiliar as it should. Mostly everyone in Storybrooke knew everyone. There were a few that choose to stay out of the way to not get caught up in whatever fiasco took over Storybrooke next but this voice was different. It wasn’t unfamiliar to him as much as it wasn’t one he had heard in a long time. The soft, feminine voice caused something somewhere deep down inside him to ignite. Like a butterflies fluttering in his stomach, a fear grew inside him that told him this couldn’t be true.

'Honey,’ he said stepping away from the table, ‘I’m just going to see what’s happening okay.’ He gave her one last smile and walked towards the crowd around the door.

He hated how his curiosity got the better of him. He hated how primal the feeling was, how no matter how hard you tried you could never truly overcome curiosity. Deep down inside each person was the same instinct so find answers, to questions something, to poke and prod it until you knew what it was.

As he approached the door it was as if that instinct had taken over. No matter what stood in his way now, all he wanted, all he needed was to know what was happening outside.

Slowly pushing through the crowd he made it next to Henry. Below them, in the courtyard of Granny’s Diner stood Emma, David and Killian. There was another blonde female with her back turned to him. From where he stood, he couldn’t tell if he knew who she was. Her long blonde hair was pulled to the side in a ponytail, and she wore a long brown jacket and hiking boots, and carried a dark blue rucksack.

'Look, this has all been a mistake,’ she spoke to Emma who stood between her and the archway back to Main Street. ‘Just let me go.’

'Sure, fine,’ Emma said in response putting her arms down. She took a step closer to the woman, ‘I just want to know how you got here.’

'I hitchhiked. Is that a good enough answer?’

'I meant more why are you here? What brought you here?’

'I got sent a postcard,’ she pulled out the postcard from her jacket pocket, ‘it had directions to come here. I thought I would give it a shot. I just wanted a little bit of an adventure.’

'That fine,’ David said slowly putting a hand on her shoulder. ‘Why don’t you come inside and we can tell us all about it?’

With David’s arm around her shoulder, he guided her towards the doorway. Everyone slowly parted to let them through, and as the woman raised her head he finally saw who she was. It was a face he hadn’t seen in such a long time – 37 years to be correct. 30 cursed years being thrown back and forth from Storybooke and 7 years before that. But it was as if nothing had changed, as if only a small number of years had passed, as if she hadn’t of aged at all. She was still young with the same pale heart shaped face and almond eyes. He saw it now, how could he have missed it.


	8. Seven

He wasn’t sure what he expected when he was told who he was looking for. He definitely would not have imagined anything as literal as a giant blue caterpillar sat atop a mushroom smoking a hookah pipe. But in all honesty, what would it be otherwise, a man living in a small quaint brick house in the middle of this forest? Most definitely not in Wonderland he realised. 

‘What do  _ you  _ want?’ he asked as they approached blowing circular smoke rings into their faces as they came closer. His voice bellowed and echoed around them, almost feeling as if it were coming from inside of them. The blue smoke smelled faintly of flowers and pleasantries and made the tips of his fingers tingle. It smelt addictive and seductive and while he knew it was wrong all he wanted to do was breath more in. But this was Wonderland, he reminded himself, everything around him was designed to keep him there, to trap him in their crazy world. 

Waving the smoke out of her face, she looked up at the Caterpillar unsurprised and unamused, ‘My friend here says you have something he needs.’

‘Oh,’ the Caterpillar said, suddenly intrigued at his presence with them. ‘And  _ who  _ might  _ you _ be?’ the Caterpillar leaned off his mushroom to look him straight in the eye in a cloud of blue smoke. The smoke began tickling the back of his throat, he could feel it suddenly all harsh and prickly, tickling him until he coughed it back out again. 

‘The name’s Jefferson,’ he finally managed, leaning back slowly away from the giant insect’s face inches from his. ‘I need some information.’

‘Carry on.’

He braced himself and finally began questioning whether this Caterpillar could indeed help him. But if there was anyone with information as bizarre as the one he needed it almost seemed apt that it would come from something so bizarre in such a bizarre place. ‘How doth the little crocodile improve his shining tail?’

He felt a nudge from next to him. Turning, he saw her raise an eyebrow at him, her face questioning and puzzled. ‘A riddle?’ she whispered at him. 

He shook his head and shrugged. It wasn’t his choice what information he went seeking but he was told it and he went forth to collect it – no questions asked. 

The Caterpillar turned away from him and slinked itself back to atop its mushroom and casually began smoking its pipe. As it blew out another smoke ring one after another until they all sat inside of each other the next one small enough to fit into each other, then he said, ‘He pour the waters of the Nile on every golden scale.’

There was a pause. His eyes darted around as if waiting for something to happen next, ‘Is that it?’ Was that all he needed? Was he sent this mysterious place to be hassled by this mysterious girl for such a short and simple answer? 

‘But beware,’ the Caterpillar finally added, ‘For how cheerfully he seems to grin, how neatly spreads his claws, all welcomes little fishes in with gently smiling jaws,’ and then he turned to face away from the two little companions stood at the bottom of his mushroom. And that was all the information he would give that day and that was, without saying, the end of their conversation. 

‘Right. Okay,’ he finally managed to say as the Caterpillar turned away, ‘I guess that is it. Thank you… Mr Caterpillar.’ He turned to walk away, his face full of puzzled confusion. Whatever just happened made little to no sense to him. But it was not his job to understand what was asked, but to deliver the information correctly. He questioned to himself though, whether the warning at the end was meant for him – or was it part of the riddle he must delivery. 

‘All of that… for a riddle?’ she caught up behind him as he walked off. Her blonde hair bouncing around her face framing her expression so neatly. ‘Really?’

‘Apparently so,’ he replied as they carried on walking through the dark forest of Wonderland. 

‘Okay,’ she said reluctantly, ‘Well, if that is over – we had a deal.’

Ah, the deal. Was it a deal or deception? He wasn’t sure – but he had what he needed now there was no worry about anything else. He could go home, give the information to The Dark One and move on to the next unsuspecting land. But first he had to get to the Looking Glass. 


	9. Eight

‘March?’

It was as if everyone froze for a moment, no one moved but to turn their heads towards him. The light from the above gave her an ethereal glow as strands of hair fell across her face. It was as if reliving a dream. For years, all he could picture was her face, the way it looked, every freckle across her cheek, every crease around her eyes when she would try to suppress a smile by biting on her bottom lip ever so softly. He wore out his memory of her try to remember ever eccentricity. But once he came to the reality he would never see her again, that she had most probably been captured by the queen or died, he let her go. He released her from his eternal grip, letting his heart loose from the knots that were created from his constant searching for her. He had moved on. But now, here she was stood in front of him as if no time had passed. 

'Jefferson?’

Emma’s eyes darted between the pair, ‘You two know each other?’

Jefferson walked down the steps, he held out a hand tentatively towards her, unsure whether it would fall right through, or grip her tight. He could feel his hand shake.

Since he laid eyes on her everything seemed like a dream, he wasn’t sure if he was walking towards her or floating on some formless cloud. Nothing felt real, this moment, something he had dreamt of for such a long time, didn’t feel real. 

As he descended the last step, she lurched herself forward. She fell into his arms, putting hers around his neck pulling him in as closely as possible.

‘I can’t believe it is you,’ she whispered softly against his cheek. 

She was warm and physical. He could feel her, was aware of the weight of her pressed against him and the smell of her floral perfume and sweet shampoo. The linen of her jacket rubbing against his skin, and the tingle of her hair against his face. She was definitely real. But still, he couldn’t pull himself to put his arms around her, truly embrace her. 

Through all his love for her and patient waiting, there was something inside of his that was angry. An unknown force that was making him despise her in this moment. It had been too long. In all that time had she not wanted to find a way back to them, had she not want to see her daughter grow up and become the beautiful little girl she was? To him there was no reason she would have stayed away so long. He had made himself believe she had died because you don’t abandon family. She would have come home if she was alive, wouldn’t she? She would have found a way to come home and Grace wouldn’t have grown up without a mother, and he wouldn’t have followed Regina into Wonderland, and the Queen wouldn’t have cut off his head, and he wouldn’t have spent all those years making hats trying to find a way home – to their daughter. 

Slowly, he pushed himself away from her. She stood in front of him, the same picture of beauty she was all those years ago, confused and bewildered. 

'Jefferson?’ she asked. He could see on her face how the world must be crumbling around her.

'Yeah,’ he turned to Emma, ‘She’s from the Enchanted Forest. She’s Grace’s mother.’

From the doorway, Grace pushed herself past Henry and took hold of Jefferson’s hand. She half hid herself behind him, watching the women stood in the middle of the crowd. She was small, with long blonde hair, just like her mother’s, and piercing blue eyes like her father’s. 

'Doormouse?’ March’s face suddenly lit up as she crouched down matching the height of Grace. She slowly reached out a hand towards Grace, attempting to usher her towards her. ‘Is that my little Doormouse?’

Shrinking back, into the crowd Grace retreated further away from her. Tightening his grip on Grace’s hand, Jefferson turned towards her. ‘Why don’t you go inside, Grace? You and Henry can get a hot chocolate, and Regina will watch over you for a bit.’ 

She gave him a silent nod, and her and Henry turned to go back inside Granny’s. Slowly the crowd began to dissipate leaving them alone on the steps. It was as if everyone could slowly feel the tension between them growing. 

She had dropped her head, fighting back the tears. Her fists were clenched tightly together and her eyes were closed against the sight of her daughter turning away from her.

 


	10. Nine

As they walked through the forest they finally came to a clearing; a little glimmer of hope outside of the curiosity that was the woods.

Everything seemed safe and normal, the dirt road somewhat comforting and familiar. No dark corners and trees for strange and wonderful creatures to hide behind, nothing to scare them, nothing they were unprepared for.

As the sun beamed down on them everything seem to illuminates itself; as if everything around them were radiating the sun rather than the light coming from the sky. Everything seemed a hyper blue or green as if someone turned up the volume on the colour of the world.

Then in the distance and the end of the pathway they could see it. The looking glass. A little dimensional traveling doorway that looked so unsuspecting to the casual bystander. The mirror was encased in an ornate gold frame with intricate and delicate curves and drawings etched into its surface. It was half hidden behind a bushel of trees and bushes but it was there, noticeable by the way the sun glanced off its reflective surface creating an attractive shimmer.

As they got closer, he reached out a hand and pushed aside some lose branches revealing it in all its glory. She stood back, staring up at its incredible height, taken it by its grandeur. She looked astonished. Her mouth barely open as she craned her neck up taking it all in. It was like nothing anyone would have ever imagined being lost in the middle of Wonderland.

'It’s magnificent,’ she finally managed as she walked up to it her fingers out stretched brushing ever so lightly against the solid frame.

'And this will take us home?’  
Us being the operative word, he thought to himself and nodded to her smiling.

'How?’ she took a step back, uncertain of what would happen or how it would react to her as if it were a living object.

'Well, you simply walk through. Watch,’ standing in front of the frame he took a step forward, then another and then placed his foot neatly through the glass. It seemed to dip and ripple around him, like what would happen if you dropped a stone into a calm lake. Then he took another step and as if the mirror were alive, it took him slowly, swallowing him whole. Until, she could see him, standing on the other side, as if he were trapped in a glass cage.

Astonished she took a step forward but hesitantly she reached out her hand once more, the tip of her longest finger outstretched as she reached for the mirror.

However, rather than being instantaneously sucked in through the mirror, her hand came up again solid glass. The mirror’s surface cold under her fingers as she pressed her palm flat up against it.

'What’s going on?’ her face filled with panic as she pushed against the solid glass. Both hands came up using force and leverage to see if she could somehow, someway phase herself through the solid material.

Then she looked up, to see his face staring back at her through the glass, he didn’t look shocked, he didn’t look upset but then again at the same time, he wasn’t smiling. Instead, he said, somewhat apologetically, ‘I’m sorry.’

'What? Why? What’s happening?’ her voice began to crack, her cool, calm demeanour suddenly lost in a chaos of confusion and blind panic.

'I may have forgotten to mention that when one person walks through the mirror into Wonderland, only one came come back – not two. The rules of the Looking Glass.’

‘You lied to me,’ her voice was soft almost a whisper that could just barely be heard through the glass. ‘We made a deal. You said you would take me home!’ Her fist pounded against the glass but nothing happened, not a scratch, not a mark, not a smudge.

'Yes, well that happens.’

'We had a deal!’ she repeated but this time in a shout.

'Nothing was signed so really nothing was official.’

'Do you have no moral code? What about a gentlemen’s agreement?’ He could see it in her eyes. The once clear blue that shone with happiness and freedom suddenly faded, like a fire dying out ever so slowly until only the embers still flickered in the darkness that engulfed it. They began to well up with tears that struggled to fall and made her bite into her lip to stop her from sobbing.

'I never said I was a gentleman. But thank you – for holding up your end of the bargain,’ he said as he turned and walked off slowly faded into the distance, blurring into the background of the Looking Glass until he was nothing but a spec, a stain on the surface.

And though he seemed gone to her, disappearing into the unknown, never to be seen again, he could still hear her. From inside the Looking Glass, he could hear her cries echo throughout the room as she screamed his name, pleading him to come back for her.  
Inside his heart died a little. Not a lot. Only a little. He hadn’t cared for her, he had no feelings for this young little lost girl he accidentally managed to stumble across in the middle of such an unknown land. He wasn’t the Dark One so he was not bound to keep any promises he made. But still, despite all of that he felt something. A little pang of guilt for leaving her behind. She had seemed to want to get out of Wonderland so much. But instead, he had given her false hope and led her to an inevitable betrayal. He never thought himself so heartless before. But it was becoming apparent. That maybe traveling alone for so long had made him cold. It was an odd feeling for him – but it didn’t surprise him none the less. Inside he felt this emotion, this pain, this feeling and realised it could be put to use. This manipulation, this deception could come in handy in getting him what he wanted when and wherever he needed it. Like a drug or the seductive aroma of a hookah smoking Caterpillar’s pipe or the unsuspecting lure of the Queen’s cakes – this sudden realisation of his ability to deceive… became addictive


	11. Ten

‘I don’t understand,’ she finally said as she followed Jefferson down Main Street away from the crowd around Granny’s. ‘What happened? How are you here?’

Stopping in front of the clock tower, he turned towards her, ‘A lot has happened since you’ve been gone, March. Grace grew up. I stopped jumping - ’ He wanted to tell her how he had travelled back to Wonderland, that the Queen of Hearts cut off his head, and he had been trapped there, and that Grace lost both her parents. ‘The Evil Queen cursed the Enchanted Forest and brought everyone here – to a land without magic.’

She could see how frustrated he was but she couldn’t understand why. All she cared about was the fact that after 7 years they were finally back together. After all her years of searching, of traveling to either ends of this magic-less world, it had finally brought them back together. 

Her elation was bubbling to the surface, she wanted to run back into his arms and hold him tight. She wanted to breath him in and let all the memories of them come flooding back. She wanted to press her lips against his and relive their first kiss. Everything she had missed about him after so long apart she wanted back and to never let go. 

She took a few steps forward, closing the gap between them, ‘That doesn’t matter anymore. We’re here together now. We can be a family again.’

'No,’ he dropped his head and stepped away from her. He spoke in a whisper, ‘You left us. I am not sure I can forgive you.’  
She could feel her heart sinking of into her chest. Was that what he thought? That she had left them. That she chose to walk away from her family. From everything she had worked hard to keep. She loved both Jefferson and Grace. From the moment he swept her away and showed her that he could care, to the moment they held their small baby daughter in their arms.

They promised each other everything, to have adventures together, to be there for each other, ‘I didn’t leave! I was trapped here.’

'You could have found a way back!’ He was shouting now – his feelings and emotion taking over whatever logic there was left. His voice echoed across the empty street around them. He left Granny’s because he didn’t want Grace to see this between them. But now he was sure the whole of Storybrooke could hear.

'I tried. I have spent every day here looking for a way back. Everyone thought I was crazy, completely mad, when I told them about our home. About what we do. No one believed in portals or jumping. Wonderland is just a story here. A fictional place from a storybook. I tried to convince people that, that was home but they wouldn’t listen to me. So I searched, for anyone who had heard of people falling through the gap, anyone who might believe what I said. Jefferson, I never stopped searching for a way home. Even this,’ she pulled out the now crumpled postcard from her pocket. ‘I followed even the smallest, pointless clue to find myself here. I had faith that one day we would be together again.’

'How long?’

He had spoken so softly she wasn’t even sure what he had asked.

'What?’

'How long have we been apart?’ He looked at her hard, almost willing the answer out of her. As if he wanted her to say one thing when deep down inside he knew she was going to say something different. 

'7 years.’

'No,’ he said.

'Yes.’

'No, it’s been 35 years for me.’

'How?’

'We’ve been trapped here for 28 years,’ he took a breath. ‘You were gone for 7 years and then the Evil Queen created the curse that trapped us here for 28 years. It’s just been so long.’

'I don’t understand how that is possible.’ 

'I looked for you. For so long after you disappeared – I tried to find you again. But I had to stop. Grace needed me. I told myself that if we stayed where we were, you would come back to us one day. But you never did. I really wanted to believe you would come back but when you never did I thought the worst, March. I believe you had died. I made myself believe you were dead because that is the only reason I could come up with for why you never came back to us. I had to tell Grace something when she kept asking. She cried for you. Every night until even she too finally believed it. We never wanted you to be gone but when you didn’t come back we just couldn’t keep living in that way. We needed you but you never came back.’

'I am so sorry Jefferson. You know that I would never have left you intentionally. I never wanted to leave - ’

'Yeah, but you did.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mainly dialogue and exposition which is why I don't like it very much.


	12. Eleven

It wasn’t long after that he got called upon again – another little job, a little hunt for some long lost mysterious object in some far away land that The Dark One could not reach. No, instead he sends his little henchman with his portal jumping hat to do the job that needed to be done. And so it began, how he began to work for the Dark One. One little trip after another. To different places. To find different things. Until one day, 

'I need you to go back to Wonderland,’ the Dark One said, his voice like the cracking of fire that sparked at you as you got too closer, frightening and threatening all at the same time.

'Why Wonderland?’ he asked, perched at the end of a large oak table in the castle hall. His hat resting atop his head slightly askew to one side. He had a mischievous grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye – all full of lies and deception brimming at the surface just waiting to be let out. He had changed in the time since his last journey. Gone were the rags of mismatched colours and shaggy hair, and now the clean cut, tailored jacket that hugged him perfectly, his hair slicked back. He exuded the wealth he had accumulated over the years. 

'I need you to get me something,’ he was pacing the room as he usually did – unable to stand still for a moment at a time. There was a roaring fire in the pit against the wall that casted a haunting shadow across the stone wall twice his size. The side of his face was illuminated by the warm amber glow highlighting his uneven, tainted skin.

'Not another riddle.’

'No, this time I need someone… or more something – I am not too sure actually,’ he stopped walking for a moment to ponder his own request before turning back to his guest and with a shriek of delight in his voice, ‘A rabbit.’

'You know – if you really want a rabbit there is a forest down the road. I am sure I can find you one without going all the way to Wonderland,’ his voice was riddled with snarky sarcasm and wit he used as his defence against his loneliness. 

'No, no no. I need a special rabbit. A White Rabbit,’

'I am sure if I look hard enough I will find one.’

'No,’ he said slamming a fist down onto the table beside him. ‘This is a special rabbit. He comes and goes from Wonderland and it is told he unsuspectingly brings people there through his rabbit hole. He carries a magical pocket watch that is two days too late and two days too fast and that is what I need from him.’

'Okay,’ he stared back at the Dark One with wide eyes, remembering to never question why or what he was asked to collect. ‘But there is only one problem - I can’t bring a living object with me through the Looking Glass. One goes in, one comes out – those are the rules.’

'Ah yes, well I believe I can fix that this one time only,’ waving his hand in a circular motion he created a cloud of purple smoke and though it a solid and opaque image slowly began to fade through, an image of the Looking Glass. It shimmered and shined like it was in the room with them, its vast grandeur noticeable even in the small image, ‘Now, just this once you will be able to enter Wonderland as one but exit as two – you and a rabbit. Nothing more or nothing less…. Good luck.’

Smiling, he pushed himself off the edge of the table and let his hat drop gracefully from his head into his hand. Straightening up, he tossed and spun it to the ground in the middle of the vast hall. Slowly it carried on spinning as it hit the ground and slowly, ever so slowly, began to grow into a massive, gaping purple hole. Glancing up, he tipped an invisible hat at the Dark One, took a step forward and dropped down into the abyss.


	13. Twelve

The sun had set over the town long ago. The streets were deserted of people and she sat alone – contemplating her thoughts about everything that had happened. Everything that had led her here. She never expected this reaction from him. She always imagined love and acceptance, happiness that they’d found each other again, the way love always did. Isn't that what they said – love will always find each other. She supposed it did for her however, she expected the experience to be more mutually happy. 

‘March?’ 

Lifting her head, she saw the blonde lady from earlier coming towards her from down the street. ‘It’s March right?’

‘Yes,’ she said quickly brushed away the tears with the palm of her hand, catching her breath. ‘Yes, my name is March.’

‘I’m Emma. I guess things didn’t really go so well then – between you and Jefferson?’

Cracking a smile, she said ‘About as badly as you expect.’

‘It’s been a long time for him. He struggled with being here for such a long time. He couldn’t deal with not being back in the Enchanted Forest. So seeing you was probably just a massive reminder that he’s still not there,’ she said reassuring her. She stayed quiet for a moment thinking of how much she struggled, of how much she wanted to their home and be with her family. Could he not see that she felt as abandoned as he did? 

‘Look, why don’t you try again tomorrow. Maybe after he’s had some time to think about it, it’ll be better. Do you need some place to stay?’

She nodded. 

‘There is a bed and breakfast just behind the diner. I’m sure they will have a room for you.’ She put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and said, ‘Everything’s going to be okay. Henry always says you have to have faith and believe that everything is going to be alright.’

Standing up, she cracked a genuine smile this time. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Maybe you are right. Maybe it will get better after he’s had time.’ 

Parting ways, she walked back towards the diner, the cool air surrounding her – a fresh, breath of a new beginning she thought to herself.


	14. Thirteen

Stepping through the mirror, he found himself transported back to a place he thought he would never see again. As he looked around he questioned how little the world had changed. He expected maybe the leaves on the tree would turn a golden brown and have fallen from their perch. Maybe the gravel path would be more worn, something, anything to indicate that time had passed in Wonderland. But instead, it felt like everything was the same. Nothing had changed. Not the leaves on the trees, not even the position of the sun in the sky. Everything felt the same as it had done once before.   
While he would admit that nothing much in the worlds he’s travelled to scared him, but the static, unshifting nature of Wonderland gave him pause. He wasn’t sure what it was exactly but he was sure that in all that time away – something must have changed. 

Walking down the familiar dirt path, he began to wonder where he would start looking for this mysterious White Rabbit. He couldn’t understand the fascination with it – it must really just be a rabbit considering the Caterpillar was simply just a caterpillar. Though, nothing in Wonderland seemed simple to say the least and this began to worry him. 

Where was he going to start? He didn’t have a guide this time. He didn’t have that mysterious girl to guide him unsuspectingly to his destination. This time he was going to hunt by himself. 

As he familiarised himself with Wonderland, remembering his way out and the paths that lead to it, he carried on walking. Until, in the distance he began to hear the muffled, undeniable, footsteps of soldiers marching in formation. They’re boots stomped hard against the ground and though they were still yards ahead of him, the ground around him began to shake. 

Jumping, he dove to hide and take refuge between the leaves of the bushes lining the road. Between the twigs and branches he could see the knights come up, passing directly in front him. They were tall, looming, clad in full metal armour. Each carried a sword that was pressed tightly against their chest as they marched in full formation, never breaking a sweat. 

As they passed him, he saw something follow behind, something smaller and not shining against the radiant glow of the sun. No, instead this person walked slower, their steps less harsh, softer against the ground as it was encased in a red slipper. Atop that was a red dress connection to a woman. She was tall with a thin waist and a pale face but no smile adorned her red lips. 

‘Where is she?’ her voice was high and shrill as she screamed to one of her servants. Instead, the army of knights parted biblically and through it were two men dragging between them a girl with scraggly blonde hair and a midnight blue dress. 

‘Let go of me,’ she shouted trying to pull her arm out of their grasps. She shook violently but they did not budge. Instead their grip tightened, their metallic glove digging into her thin arms. 

‘Do you really think I am going to let you go?’ the Red Women asked sarcastically, she toyed with the words at the tip of her tongue. ‘You tried to destroy me and for that I am never going to let you leave Wonderland. No, instead I am going to keep you here… forever.’

He stayed, in his hiding place, as still as possible to stop the ruffling of leaves around him attracting attention and watched silently. It was the girl. His mysterious guide whom he betrayed. Suddenly the pang of guilt he thought he’d suppressed all that time ago began to rise, bubbling up to the surface as he realised that things in Wonderland had changed. It might not have been his surroundings – no that was stuck in a continuous, indefinite, loop. What had changed was her. Time hadn’t been kind. Her dressed was frayed at the bottom, the hem covered in dirt. Her hair now reaching down to her waist, was scraggly, unbrushed and wild but still trapped in the old faded ribbon. 

Thing obviously passed different in Wonderland. Here it must have been years – and she was still trapped here. 

‘Let’s see,’ the Red Women continued, as she paced around studying the young blonde girl. ‘What can we do to you to keep you here?’ She asked, her voice once again playful. ‘I’d rather not cut off your head. You really are much too pretty… but that’s Regina’s problem – not being the fairest of them all. No – you wanted to destroy me. So rather than killing you,’ she dragged a deep red nail across the girls check, ‘I think a slow torture would be more apt. You are so used to running free – how about being trapped?’

Raising her arms in the air, the sky suddenly darkened for a moment, clouds appeared out of nowhere covering the once blue sky in an ominous grey shroud, the sun disappearing behind it. Then suddenly she pulled her arms down, pointing them at the unsuspecting girl, purple smoke suddenly beginning to appear. Slowly at first it came from the Red Women and travelled eerily across the worn path towards her. She struggled, trying to rip herself away from her captors and run from the oncoming storm but instead she was forced down onto her knees. The purple smoke swirling around her, engulfing her like the ocean tide coming into the shore, covering everything around it. 

The smoke lingered for a moment, then without a word, the smoke and the grey clouds began to part. As the world returned to normal, he could see that she was gone. The blonde girl had been eaten by the purple cloud and disappeared. 

‘Oh excellent,’ the Red Women said staring down at the ground where the girl once stood. 

Following her gaze, he looked down, and truly, where she once stood, now sat a white rabbit. Its whiskers twitching as it got used to its new skin. The Red Women had turned her into a rabbit… a white rabbit. 

‘Someone grab her before she decides to scamper off.’

In that moment, without thinking and without hesitation he jumped out of the bushes. He wasn’t sure what he expected with his gesture but definitely not all eyes suddenly darting towards him. He suddenly felt exposed, realising what a terrible idea this was. 

‘Ah right, hello,’ he said. ‘Sorry, I’m just…’ he quickly reached down and grabbed the small white rabbit and ran through the forest away from the Red Women and her metallic knight army. In the distance he could hear her shouting, calling out orders for everyone run after him, to bring her back that rabbit. 

As he ran through the trees, pushing asides branches and leaves, he thought to himself what on earth possessed him to do this. This wasn’t the rabbit he was sent to collect. Instead he kept running with one goal in mind – the Looking Glass. He dared not think what would happen to him if he was caught by the Red Women. She was willing to imprison the blonde girl as a rabbit indefinitely, what would she do to someone who stole from her… cut off his head?

In the distance he could see the Looking Glass, shimmer in the bright sun as it always did, trusty and reliable. Pushing himself, he willed to go faster, to travel that little distance further without being caught by a knight. But just as quickly as the thought passed through his head, a knight came crashing into him, knocking him to the ground. 

Cradling the rabbit girl carefully in his arm, he righted himself. Suddenly, he was surrounded knights everywhere and the Looking Glass so close.   
Behind the metallic mask of one of the knights he could hear, ‘Give me the girl.’

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘But I know someone who is also in desperate need of a white rabbit.’ Taking the opportunity, he dashed forward lunging himself between two knights before they could react. Pushing with all the energy and strength left in him he reached the Looking Glass and without a pause, flung himself into it.


	15. Fourteen

The smell of bacon and pancakes from the diner wafted up the staircase of the Bed and Breakfast waking her up to the comforting feeling that things were going to be okay. She knew that today she would make things better and that everything would work out between her and Jefferson. 

As she stood in front of the dressing table mirror, she slowly pulled a brush through her long blonde hair before tying it up neatly over the left shoulder, a ribbon holding it all together. She gave herself one last look approving of the effort she had put into her outfit and left the room for the diner. 

‘Good morning,’ she chirped to Granny as she sat herself down at the counter. ‘I was wondering if I could ask you a favour.’

Granny stopped what she was doing and put down the glass and cloth she had in her hand before turning to her. ‘I’m not in the business of doing favours for strangers.’

‘Oh, I’m not really a stranger,’ she said attempting her biggest smile, ‘I was from the Enchanted Forest like everyone else, except my journey here was a little different.’

‘I know exactly who you are honey,’ she said leaning over the counter staring over the rim of her glasses at her, studying her every inch. ‘I just don’t know you.’

‘Come on Granny,’ a tall, waitress with long dark hair and a blood red shirt said, ‘Give her a chance.’

She let out a huff at the waitress and turned back to her, ‘Fine. What is it?’

‘I was wondering if I could borrow your kitchen. Or more specifically, an oven?’

‘Why?’ she said her tone flat. 

‘I was hoping to bake something to bring to Jefferson and my daughter when I go see them later. A peace offering of sorts. I am hoping to win them back.’

‘Look Granny, isn’t that romantic,’ said the waitress. 

‘As Ruby seems to trust you – fine. I shouldn’t get in the way of you getting your family back. I understand how much that means.’

With a big smile, she leaned over the counter and flung her arms around Granny and embraced her in a big hug. She hadn’t felt happier in a long time. She was one step closer to getting Jefferson and Grace back. 


	16. Fifteen

‘Well, that was quick.’

He hadn’t expected the Dark One to still be standing there when he arrived back as jumped out of his portal. It seemed he was only gone for a moment. Nothing had changed, not the room, not his clothes, not the position of the sun in the sky or the shadows across the floor. 

‘So, did you get it?’ he asked crooning. 

Picking his hat from the ground where it sat still, the abyss of purple smoke that was his portal disappeared after he exited. Adjusting the hate neatly on his head, he dusted off his jacket and turned back to the Dark One. In one arm, cradled like a sleeping baby, was the white rabbit. 

‘Is that it?’ The Dark One asked, his voice dry and disappointed. 

‘You wanted the White Rabbit,’ he said, keeping his voice calm and collected as he placed the rabbit carefully on the ground between them. It sat for a moment, hopped two steps and stayed, whiskers twitching, rubbing its paws together. He hadn’t really thought what he was going to do in the moment he took her. All he knew was that the man opposite him had the power to turn her back into a girl. 

‘It’s just a rabbit?’

‘Yeah,’ he hesitated for a moment, searching his mind for some kind of lie. ‘It can change from a human to a rabbit. Obviously, it doesn’t like to on command.’

‘Hmmm,’ the Dark One paced for a moment, staring intently at the rabbit that still sat on his castle floor. ‘I did not expect this. No, no, not at all.’

‘Oh come on,’ he tried to relax, pulling out a chair from the old oak table and sitting himself down in it hoping it would calm his nerves and make him more comfortable. ‘You have magic don’t you. There must be a spell or something you can use to force it back into a human.’

‘Yes, yes, yes,’ he said rubbing his hands together and suddenly the room filled with a cloud of purple smoke. It lingered in the air for a moment, and he got up from his chair to look, watching nervously. 

As the cloud parted, there stood, the girl just as she had in the forest of Wonderland. Her face stunned, her eyes wide, utterly bewildered by what had just happened but otherwise unharmed.   

‘That is the White Rabbit?’ the Dark One said with an eyebrow raised at the girl.

She looked around at her new surroundings suddenly lost in its differences. She began to realise she was no longer in the forest, no long surrounded by the Red Woman and her band of knights… no longer in Wonderland. She took in the high ceilings, the tall windows, the book cases filled with old spell books, then she turned and she saw him. Standing there, the same as ever, but with an expression to match hers. 

‘That is not my rabbit,’ the Dark One said suddenly realising his ploy.

Reaching forward he grabbed the girl by the hand and pulled her towards him. Tipping his hat, it felt into his hands and once against flew to the floor to create the gaping portal. 

‘I’m sorry,’ he said once again. ‘I needed magic to turn her back.’

Then, with his hand around her waist, they took a step forward and into the darkness leaving the Dark One alone in his castle hall without his White Rabbit. 


	17. Sixteen

She enjoyed drowning out the world when she baked. Music was the one thing she enjoyed most about this land, and how portable it was. Back in the Enchanted Forest, she remembered traveling to the town square where occasionally you would find a lute player trying to collect money. She would sit across from them in the square and just listen, imagining that the song told the stories of better lands with hope and glory in store for any explorer wishing to find it. 

But in this land, all she had to do was pull out her phone, plug in her headphones, and off she went. Music direct into her ears. She thought it all to be magic when she first arrived here. That a wizard had trapped the musicians inside the metal box and they would play on command. But no, instead magic had found a way of capturing and storing the sound of music in the metal box to be played and replayed whenever she pleased. 

And now, she chose to play the music loud, drowning out the world, all her fears and anxieties, and focus solely on her task at hand. 

As she tapped her feet rhythmically to song, she pulled out a fresh batch of cupcakes from the oven. The room suddenly filled with the warm, sweet smell of lemon cake as she lifted them out of the tray and onto a rack. 

Turning around to grab the icing sugar off the counter behind her, she jumped at the sight of Jefferson watching from the doorway behind her. 

‘How long have you been standing there?’ she asked, pulling off her headphones - the beat of the music suddenly disappearing leaving the gentle rhythm and hum of the kitchen to fill the space between them. 

He smiled. He seemed softer than he had last night, less aggravated by the sight of her. Maybe Emma was right, maybe he just needed some time to think, sometime to rationalise the sight of her after so long. ‘Not too long.’

‘I was making a surprise,’ she said gesturing to the cakes behind her. ‘I was going to bring it over later to surprise you and Grace.’

‘It will still surprise Grace – she used to love your cakes,’ he said. He stepped out of the doorway, into the kitchen the heels of his boots echoing across the linoleum of the floor. He closes his eyes momentarily and breathed in the smell of her baking. ‘I missed this,’ he said. 

‘Missed what exactly?’ she asked taking a step towards him. There was a different tension in the air in this moment. Not the fear and anxiety from the night before but instead an attraction, pulling them together, the tingling sensation she remembered from their past building in the pit of her stomach, bringing them closer in this moment. Did he miss her? Did he miss them together? As a family? 

‘The smell of your cupcakes. They were always my favourite. You remembered that lemon was always my favourite.’

THey were so close in the moment, she lifted her head to meet his eyes, his towering height looming over her. One more step forward and he could reach his arms around her, wrap her in a his embrace they way it used to be. Protect her from the horrors of the world, remind her that it was them together with nothing in the world capable of pulling them apart. Instead, they stood inches apart. 

But still, a hidden glow of light grew inside of her, of hope and love and all things that made them perfect for each other, and she did her best to retain her smile from erupting all over her face. ‘Of course, I will always remember.’

Her happiness was short lived as the smile was soon wiped from his face. He dropped his eyes from hers and took a step back, hiding them in shame – but for what, she asked herself. 

‘I’m sorry March,’ he started, ‘I spent so long hating you for leaving, I never began to think that it was because you couldn’t come back.’

SHe scrunched up the dish cloth in her hand and sighed in frustration at the moment drifted away from them. ‘No, you were right. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have gone in the first place. I just needed that little bit of excitement-’

‘Because our life was boring?’ he cut in. His eyes shot back up brimming with disappointment. 

‘No,’ she replied, ‘I missed the traveling. That sense of adventure. We hadn’t travelled after Grace and I was beginning to think we never would.’

‘You never told me that.’

‘When he came to us with that opportunity to go back to our old lives and you said no, I thought it was because you wanted to stop jumping.’

‘Did you ever think that I said no because I knew what was going to happen?’


	18. Seventeen

Their bodies slammed against the cold, moist ground. They were in the middle of another forest. But this time not a fake forest. This was a real world forest, a normal forest, not a forest made of magic and imagination. The leaves felt real, wet to the touch, the ground was soggy from recent rain. The root that stuck into her back was definitely real. 

Pushing herself off of him, she dragged herself up, her head spinning. Her body was still trying to comprehend being turned into a rabbit then back into a person again. Stumbling, she rested herself against a tree, feelings it’s rough and coarse bark against her hands. 

Trying to assist her, he placed a hand on her shoulder but she pushed him away. ‘Get away from me,’ she said in gasps as she took a step away from the tree. But before she could get anywhere, her knees buckled from underneath her. She could feel herself fall, slowly getting closer to the ground before arms grabbed her and pulled her up straight. ‘Get away,’ she repeated.

‘Look, you are in no state to run away,’ he said keeping her upright, watching as her eyes struggled to stay open but with all her might she fought to stop them from closing. 

Holding herself against him, she attempted to push away, her weak arms pushing against his chest but failing to do anything. ‘You left me,’ she said her words slowly slurring together. ‘You left me.’

‘Yeah I know. I’m sorry,’ he said. Looking around he spotted the cottage not too far away. It was hidden behind trees but still noticeable. It was an old cottage, nothing special. A thatched roof and wooden walls covered in a light green tinge of moss and leaves, there was a chimney and a small window with its wooden shutters closed. It was small and somewhat dilapidated but it looked cosy. 

She continued to struggle out of his grasp but all her efforts were not doing very much of anything. Her eyes were almost completely shut and her head began lolling to one side. Her words became murmurs of inconsistent sounds but through it he managed to make out: ‘You left me. Why are you saving me?’

In obviously no state to walk, he lifted her up, carried her and began walking through the forest. She was light, her small, thin and frail frame curled in his arms. He could feel her shallow breaths as her chest rose and fell against his. He looked down at her face, her hair covering it half of it casting a shadow against her pale skin, her lips of soft pink. She was beautiful in the half light of the sun that filtered itself through the leaves of the tall pine trees. 

‘Because,’ he said knowing she couldn’t hear him. ‘Sometimes - everyone needs saving.’


	19. Eighteen

She was becoming fidgety. She bit her lip as her fingers toyed with a small gold hourglass attached to her necklace. She rolled it between her fingers, the sand falling backwards and forwards. TIme shifting faster and slower. Patrons entered and exited the diner as she watched the door but none of them was who she was waiting for. 

The cupcakes she’d made sat decoratively in a wicker basket on the table. Occasionally, she would reach out and move one, it’s position not perfect for when she arrived – she wanted everything to be perfect. 

‘Hello,’ next to her appeared the small boy from the previous night - Henry. 

‘Hello,’ she replied back absentmindedly as her attention was still focused on the door. 

Henry moved around the table and sat opposite her. ‘Who are you waiting for?’

Taking a deep breath and put on her best smile and turned to the boy, ‘Jefferson is bringing my daughter here to meet me for the first time in seven years. I think I’m a little bit nervous. ’

‘Nah, don’t worry it will all be fine. I bet Grace is excited to see you.’

‘Do you know her?’ she asked tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. 

‘Yeah she is in my class.’

She could feel herself biting her lip again. Leaning in, closer to Henry she asked, ‘What is she like?’

He raised an eyebrow at her, ‘you don’t know?’

‘I haven’t seen her in a long time. I knew what she was like, when she was three. But I’m sure she has done a lot of growing up since.’

She could see in his face his kindness and sincerity. As if behind those eyes lied all the wisdom of someone three times his age. ‘She’s great. Really nice and sweet. But she is also a little rebellious. She always so curious. She will go off into the woods and find things and she always talks about going places. Like places she wants to see and visit someday.’

‘She wants to travel?’ she said in a low voice more to herself that a response. 

Behind Henry, the door bells chimed and Grace and Jefferson walked through. He bent low and whispered something into her ear before she came running up to her. She wore a pretty pink dress and her blonde hair was pushed back neatly with an Alice band. ‘Hi,’ she whispered in a soft voice, shyly sitting in the vacant seat Henry left.

Jefferson stood for a moment, still by the door, watching. He couldn’t bring himself to go over  - not just yet. He wanted this to be Grace’s moment. She’d spent most of her life without her mother and even some of without her father. Even though he wasn’t sure he could truly forgive March for leaving, something inside of him knew that he couldn’t push her away from Grace. No one should grow up without both their parents. 


	20. Nineteen

She felt comfortable. More comfortable that she had felt in a long time. She could feel the soft sheets underneath her and the plush covers wrapped around her. The pillow her head rested on was soft to the touch. She shifted in her sleep, pulling the cover tighter around her not wanting to move from her warm little cocoon. 

Until she realised. 

Her eyes shot open and she sat bolt upright before crashing back down into the bed. Her head still spun like she had been thrown around, ripped apart then put back together again. Her whole body ached, her muscles were tight and she could feel scars and bruises stamped across her skin. Slowly opening her eyes, she kept her head rested against the pillow and looked around. She was in a small quaint little house with wooden walls, a fire roared in the corner casting an amber glow over everything in the room. She lay in a large, four poster bed, the curtains pulled back allowing the sun from the open window to seep in. To one side she saw a table, at it sat a figure. They was hunched over something their hands moving meticulously over whatever it was they were doing.

‘Hey,’ she said not realising how broken her voice sounded as it echoed across the silent room.  The figured turned and she saw him, his face calm and relaxed, his hair thrown about. He sat in a shirt without the intricate waist coast or the cravat at his chin. Instead, he sat, looking like an absolutely normal man. 

‘Good morning,’ he said back to her - his voice softer and kinder than she remembered. 

She dared to raise herself into a sitting position pulling her knees to her chest, ‘What happened?’ she asked. 

She looked small, lost in the covers of the bed she sat in. Her eyes looked worn and dark and her hair fell across her face covering her expression but not the darkening purple blue shade of a bruise slowly appearing at the top of her cheek. 

‘You don’t remember?’

She looked away for a moment, maybe she did, maybe she didn’t. Maybe she just didn’t want to admit it. She got caught – something she promised herself would never happen. She would be lost and locked in some cage in some tower of the Red Queen’s castle if it wasn’t for this stranger sat across from her. The man who betrayed her. She spent so long thinking of ways to get back at him. Of finding him and trapping him in some distant place where he could not escape – a fate she was doomed to have. But now, this changed everything. 

‘Thank you,’ she said her voice small, lost in the vastness of the room. She avoided his eyes, his glance, at all costs – focusing on anything but him. Like how she noticed the room was rather sparse. There was a small chest of draws and above it a row of books. Sitting on the table was a tea pot and next to it – a hat. ‘What were you doing?’ she asked. 

He turned back to the hat on the table revealing another one next to it, ‘I made you this.’ He lifted the other hat, similar to the first but in one way different - smaller.

Crossing the room, he brought the hat over to her, sitting carefully on the edge of the bed; he leaned over and placed the hat neatly on her head. It fitted somewhat thought it was slightly large around the edge and sank a little further down her head than it ought to. 

‘How did you learn how to make this?’ she asked running her fingers along the brim. 

‘I used to be a hatter.’

‘Well, you are mad,’ she said. ‘A Mad Hatter.’

‘Why?’ he asked. 

‘For saving me like that. You could have left me. Well, you should have left me if our first meeting was anything to go by,’ her voice sounded bitter and it stung. Inside of him, that little part of him, the guilty part, he thought he’d locked away safely somewhere he couldn’t find, began to rise again. 

‘I know,’ he said gaze dropped. ‘I should have told you about the Looking Glass but, I just needed the information. But thinking about it. Now we are even – you saved my life and I saved yours.’

‘Actually,’ she said raising an eyebrow at him, ‘I saved you twice so technically, that means you still owe me.’ He gave a chuckle and a smile. ‘Anyway, how could a riddle be so important?’

He shook his head, ‘You wouldn’t understand.’ Rising from his seat at the edge of the bed he walked across the room back to the table. 

She looked down; now a guilty feeling inside of her was rising ever so slowly. She could taste it in the back of her mouth like bile rising. Then again, she thought to herself, it might actually be bile – she couldn’t remember the last time she eat or drank. 

On cue, he returned with a hot cup of steaming tea in a dainty little tea cup. Holding it between her hands she savoured how warm it felt between her fingers. 

‘We were never really properly introduced. Jefferson, portal jumper and now Mad Hatter,’ he said with a grin reaching out a hand. 

Looking down at it she took it, apprehensively. ‘March,’ she said. ‘March Haigha, once unwilling followed a White Rabbit down a rabbit hole and got trapped in Wonderland and now, mad as a March Hare.’ She smiled and lifted the cup to her lips and sipped at the warm tea that for the first time, in a very long time, filled her with a sense of complete warmth with a tinge of happiness. 


	21. Twenty

The afternoon was cold, an easterly breeze pushed the sea air into the harbour. It snaked through the streets and alleys chilling the town to its core. The trees tussled in the wind, shaking their leaves so they showered the pavements in puddles of crisp golden and brown leaves. The choppy water caused the boats to bob up and down along the pier. 

She stood leaning against the wooden fence facing out to sea. The wind tossed her hair across her face and she pulled her jacket tighter around her to keep warm. But despite it all, she choose to say - staring out into the abyss of water wondering where it all ended. 

‘You alright, lass?’ A man she had seen from the night before came towards her from the end of the pier. He was all in black, only a leather jacket protecting him from the cold but he seemed impervious. 

She smiled at him and nodded as he came up besides her. ‘Yeah - thanks. Just came out here to think.’

He stayed her for a moment staring out at the horizon. ‘You much of a sailor?’ he asked. 

‘No,’ she said shaking her head. ‘Back in Wonderland you had to travel right to the edge of the realm to find this much water, and after that we lived in the Enchanted Forest we were kind of in the middle of nowhere so none there either. It’s probably why I find it so fascinating.’ She closed her eyes for a moment and breathed in the salty cold air. ‘Even after 7 years I am still astonished at how these people have found every  way imaginable to travel across the realm. By sea, by air, on train or car. I only ever knew a horse and cart which really isn't much compared.’

They stood together for a moment in silence. Finally he said, ‘I’ve been to Wonderland once. Found it a terribly strange place. I was sent there to kill the Queen -

‘Which one?’ She butted in momentarily. 

‘Hearts,’ he said and she nodded in approval. ‘I didn't get to see much while I was there. I was always told it was a magical place?’

She laughed at his question. ‘I suppose it is,’ she replied. ‘If you are a child, full of innocence then yes - it is a magical place with talking animals and plants, where you grow tall and small depending on what you eat, where nothing and everything make sense all at the same time and anything you imagine can come true. Then yes - it is a magical place. But once you see past that. Past the lies it uses to lure you in, it is sadistic and ruthless and villainous. Though I suppose I have travelled enough to see that most realms are the same - they are just as villainous as each other.’

‘Why - that's a very cynical view,’ he said back. ‘I can see why it drove Jefferson mad when he was trapped there.’

She suddenly turned - tearing her eyes away from the sea, her whole body shifted to look at him directly. ‘He was what?’

‘He was trapped in Wonderland when the first first curse hit. He had been there for sometime after The Evil Queen abandoned him there when she went to rescue her father.’ Her face was blank - a pale sheet against the greying skyline. ‘You didn't know?’

‘He failed to mention that when he accused me of abandoning our family.’


	22. Twenty One

‘So, why do you do it?’ she asked retrieving her boots from the end of the bed and slipping them on. She moved gracefully, even with her hair slipping into her eyes she pushed it behind her ear in one swift movement. She stood and using the ribbon that was laid out nicely on the side table, she pushed her hair to the side and tied it together. She was tall, lean, and elegant in the blue dress that brushed the ground ever so lightly. She didn’t look old but neither young at the same time. More like the weight of growing up had dawned on her and all the responsibilities and hardships in life rested on her shoulders. She looked worn and worked down, tired psychically but there was still a shimmer in her eyes deep down that he recognised – recognised because it was within him too. The need to travel, the urge to move about and not be in one place for too long. 

‘Do what?’ he asked finally shifting his gaze from her when she turned to look at him. 

‘Travel from one world to another.’

‘I enjoy it,’ he thought about it for a moment, ‘I’m good at it. I like the thrill of being somewhere that isn’t home. I never really had a home so travelling is comforting.’ He spoke with a sadness in his eyes. Like he was trying to remember something from so long ago that he had now forgotten and was disappointed in himself for doing so. Like he was trying to remember home. 

‘It sounds kind of poetic; the need to the travel. Like being homesick for somewhere you have never been.’

He turned back to her, a smile gleaming across his face, ‘Exactly.’

It was this strange feeling, this sudden connection he had with this girl he had once met in Wonderland. He hardly knew her, who she was, where she came from, any little detail about her. She was a mystery, an enigma, something he wasn’t really sure how to comprehend but suddenly, somehow felt drawn towards. She seemed so open, so smart, so taken in by the world around her as she pattered around his small little house examining things that sat on counters or were left out. She slowly dragged her fingers, the tips only gently brushing against the window sill as she walked passed it. She hand curling around the old faded floral curtains was like she was examining every inch, studying it, taking it all in, breathing in this new environment. 

‘Why did you save me?’ she finally said, turning back to him, her voice direct, her tone flat. The words weighed heavy on him, a fact he didn’t want to come face to face within mainly because he wasn’t sure. Wasn’t sure how to answer but also, wasn’t sure why.

He dropped his head facing the underlying truth that maybe there was a reason, a reason he wasn’t proud of. ‘Guilt I guess,’ he said. 

‘Is that it?’

‘Loneliness maybe. I’ve just travelled so much and for so long I think I’ve become sentimental… nostalgic. I hate seeing things destroyed. You had a sense of freedom about you and I realised I couldn’t leave you to be locked up forever.’

‘Now that is just romantic,’ she said a smile creeping across her lips. 

Slowly his thin lips moved into a grin and he let out a soft laugh, ‘I never said I wasn’t romantic.’


	23. Twenty Two

She marched up the stairs of Granny’s Diner. She could feel herself hot with anger, sizzling up from somewhere deep inside of her. She felt betrayed. He had lied by omission - made her seem like the villain for leaving their family when infact he was no better. All she could think of in that moment was Grace, how torn she must have felt having both parents leave her. She grew up alone - never truly experiencing the love that can only come from the hearts of true parents. 

As she threw open the doors, the bells jingled violently above her and everyone stopped for a moment to watch as she came up to Jefferson sat at the bar. 

‘You were trapped in Wonderland before you came here. You said I abandoned our family but you left Grace and got trapped in Wonderland. How could you do that?’

Jefferson slowly turned from his chair to look at her. His head bowed low above a steaming cup of tea in front of him; all he could think of was his hidden fault - that he had been no better than March. He hadn’t told her - because he didn't know how. He didn't know how to explain the truth of what had happened. He had left Grace with the neighbours for the day, then went with Regina to Wonderland before she deceived him and left him there… the same way he had left her the first time they met. 

‘I’m sorry,’ was all he could muster under his breath without looking at her. ‘I should have told you earlier but - ‘

‘Yes,’ she said cutting him off. ‘You should have told me but you didn’t. You made me out to be the bad parent - but maybe you are.’

‘No!’ his head shot up to look at her this time. ‘I left because I thought I could help her. Make things better for us. You left to pursue your own selfish adventure.’ 

As she began to speak the sound of the door bells jingled. Behind her Grace entered the diner watching her parents intely. She was framed by the glow of the sun behind her, the look of innocence on her face and despite everything she might have just heard - a smile. 

‘Mama? Papa?’ 

‘Hey, my little Doormouse,’ she said crouching down next to her daugher. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and rested her hand on the side of her cheek. ‘How would you like to come with Mama? We can go on a little trip together - just you and me.’ 

Jefferson jumped from his seat. ‘You are not taking her anywhere.’

‘Maybe I am because by the look of things I can care of her just as well as you have. At least with me she won’t get left alone without any family.’ 

‘It wasn’t like that - you don’t understand what happened,’ he said back to her but she wasn’t listening now. Instead, she turned back to Grace. 

‘How about it? We can go anywhere you want?’

‘No,’ she said, her voice small and quiet compared to the adults around her. ‘I want all of us to stay here - together. I want us to be a family together.’ 

‘Baby it will be fine I promise,’ she said taking a step towards her but Grace took a step back away and took hold of her father’s hand. ‘Come on - we need -‘

‘March,’ Emma’s stern voice from the Diner door cut her off. ‘Can I speak to you for a moment - alone?’

She shut her eyes in defeat. She could feel her whole body fuming. She didn't want to hate Jefferson in this moment but it frustrated her that he could accuse her of such things when he wasn't any different. She wanted to take Grace away and show her that she was a good mother, that she didn't abandon her family, that all she wanted to was to give Grace her best chance. 

Emma guided her into the back area of Granny’s. She still had a clear view out to the main area and watched as he gave Grace a comforting hug. 

‘Believe it or not,’ she started in a hushed tone, ‘I know what you are going through right now and taking your daughter away from Jefferson is not the right plan.’

‘But I can't let him get away with lying about something like that. I won't be made the villain in this family.’

‘You’re not - trust me. I might not know Grace well, but from what I do know she won’t think that. All she wants, all any child wants, is their family. Taking away your own daughter right now will only make her see you as the villain. I went through the same thing with Henry.’

‘He is your son?’

‘Well, kind of. It’s complicated but I gave him away after he was born and when he came to find me 10 years later I was thrilled and happy. But then things got complicated between his adoptive mother and me, and at one point I wanted to bail and take him with me because I thought that was the best thing for him. It wouldn't have been. It would have made things worse and I can't let you go through with it either.’

Marched stayed quiet, she watched beyond Emma, her daughter sit at the diner counter spooning whipped cream off her hot chocolate. She couldn't help seeing how perfect they were together. The way he looked at her, all the love in the world, the way she laughed. This was the family she had missed out on for so long. She had waited so long, all she wanted was for them to be together again. There was still something deep inside of her that questioned everything - could she put away their differences for their daughter? Could they put away the past mistakes, the missing years, and be a family?

‘Don’t worry - you will find a way to sort things out between Jefferson and yourself without harming Grace,’ she rested a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. ‘I also have someone waiting to see you.’ 

**Author's Note:**

> I realise there is already a canon story between Jefferson, March Hare and Perscilla, but I began writing this before I found out about that story so I am going to continue with this anyway. Enjoy x


End file.
